The
park comprises the southwest quarter of Cenderawasih Bay which lies to
the east of the isthmus connecting the Vogelkop Peninsula to the
mainland. The park falls within the administrative districts of
Manokwari and Nabire. Access is by sea from the towns of Manokwari and
Nabire, which lie 95 km and 38 km north and east, respectively. Air
transport is available from Manokwari, Biak and Nabire.

The
reserves support a wide spectrum of relatively undisturbed coastal and
marine habitats, of which the extensive coral reefs rank amongst the
finest in the world. The marine habitats, particularly contain a number
of rare and commercially important species, provide the basis for the
local fishing industry and have a high potential for visitor use and
research.

The
park consist of 80 km2 coral reefs, 1,305.3 km2 seas,
12.4 km2 coastal plain and 55,8 km2 islands
bounded by 500 km coastline. The park keeps a wide variety of
important marine species, from Scleractinia corals to giant
whales. Many of them is endangered (see also CITES
lists) and protected by Indonesian law. There are five reef
types in the park: fringing reef, barrier reef, patch reef, atoll and
shallow water reef mound. The diversity of Scleractinia coral
species in the park is enormous, including Acropora, Porites,
Pocillopora and Favites families. Salm et. al. (1982)
reported 130 species (62 genus and subgenus). Furthermore, Gilkes
and Adipati (1987) reported 145 species of 67 genus of coral. WWF
survey in 1997 found 201 species of 64 genus and subgenus.

The
steep and incised topography of the western coastal mountains and the
Wandamen and Kwatisore peninsulas to the south, reflect their position
on the convergence of the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates. Five
major reef types are found, of which fringing reefs are the most
extensive, bordering most of the mainland coastline and the major
continental islands. The island of the Auri archipelago are composed of
a steep-sided patch reef. Reef topography varies from gently shelving
shallow water to vertical cliffs 40-5-m in depth | Back
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Gilkes
and Adipati (1987) recorded 196 species of molluscs, includes 153
gastropods, 40 bivalves and 2 cephalopods. There are six species
of Tridacna clams found in the park: giant clam (Tridacna gigas),
small giant clam (T. maxima), southern giant clam (T. derasa),
scaly clam (T. squamosa), boring clam (T. crocea) and
bear's paw clam (Hippopus hippopus). The largest giant clam
recorded in the park reached 1.5 in diameter. There are also some
gastropods such as triton trumpet (Charonia tritonis), horned
helmet (Cassis cornuta) and top shell lola (Trochus niloticus)
as well as rare green snail (Turbo marmoratus). Other
snails such as cowries (Cyprea sp.), stormbid (Lambis sp.)
and cone shell (Conus sp.) are abundant in the sea floor. |
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The
park includes nesting habitat for green turtle (Chelonia mydas)
and hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata). The
leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) and olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys
olivacea) are known to feed in the bay. The
islands of Nusambier, Iwari, Kuwom, Matas and Wairundi and several
mainland beaches have been recorded as turtle nesting beaches. In
some beaches, sea crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is sometimes
found. | Back
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The
park also includes feeding habitat of three sea mammals, Dugong (Dugong
dugon), dolphin (Delpinus delphis) and whale. According
to Salm et. al.(1982), dugong inhabit the sea grass bed in
the southern coast of Mios Waar island as well as some mainland
beaches. In 1982 aerial survey, 13 dugongs found in the west coast
of the park. | Back
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Coconut crab
(Birgus latro) is the largest living terrestrial arthropod (Helfman,
1979 in Salm et. al., 1982). Carapace reaches to 30
cm. Hothius (1959, 1963) in Salm et. al.(1982)
reported that some islands of Wairundi, Nukup and Auri is the habitat of
the crab. Islanders of the park called Manggaperba. |
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Over
exploitation of marine resources, such as turtles and giant clams by
local and itinerant fishermen is a serious problem throughout the park.
Particularly badly affected is the Tridacna Reef where the giant clam
population has been decimated. Other serious problems are the use of
explosives by itinerant fishermen, which have degraded large areas of
reef, and loss of vegetation on several of the Auri islands due to the
felling of Casuarina for fuel. This has resulted in soil erosion and
loss of nesting bird habitat. | Back
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